Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), met with Dr. Bandar bin Asaad AlSajjan, Director-General of the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and together discussed the prospects of cooperation between the Organization and the Institute in the fields of youth and women’s capacity building and training and contributing to achieving gender balance in various fields of work.

During the meeting, which took place on Monday (March 6, 2023) at IPA headquarters in Riyadh, in the presence of several ICESCO heads of sectors and departments, and IPA officials, Dr. AlMalik reiterated his thanks and appreciation to the Institute and its Director General for the thorough study the Institute conducted, which was the reference for developing ICESCO’s organizational structure. He also commended the Institute’s delegation visit, which was headed by Dr. Sara AlOtaibi, Deputy Director-General of the Institute for Business Development and Partnerships, to ICESCO Headquarters in Rabat last November.

Moreover, the Director-General highlighted the main axes of the Organization’s vision and strategic orientations and focused on the programs and projects currently implemented in the fields of building youth and women’s capacities, honing their skills to keep pace with tomorrow’s professions, promoting innovation and scientific research, capitalizing on modern technology to develop the fields of education, science and culture in the countries of the Islamic world, and promoting the presence of the Arabic language globally.

For his part, Dr. AlSajjan expressed his delight at the visit of the Director-General and his accompanying delegation to the IPA Headquarters and praised the efforts of the Organization in supporting its Member States in its areas of competence. He also commended the cooperation between the Organization and the Institute, stressing the importance of sustaining efforts to develop a strategic partnership and implement joint programs.

Afterward, heads of ICESCO’s sectors and departments talked about the key changes in ICESCO’s organizational structure and administrative governance, noting that the Organization received the ISO Certificate for Quality management systems (ISO 9001:2015), and the ISO Certificate for Information Security Management System (ISO 27001).

Officials from the Institute also gave a presentation on IPA’s efforts in the fields of training and research, promoting gender balance in employment in government agencies, management consulting for organizations and government agencies, in addition to the efforts of the National Observatory on measuring indicators on the key issues.

The meeting discussed proposals for cooperation between ICESCO and the Institute, especially in the fields of IPA scholarships, leadership training and staff qualification. It also focused on sharing the Institute’s sixty-year-long expertise with the countries of the Islamic world, setting up a special unit for gender balance in ICESCO, and exploring cooperation prospects between the Organization, the Institute and the World Bank Group in various fields. The two parties agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding providing for the programs and projects to be agreed upon and their implementation plans.